Duke Energy to buy Progress Energy

RALEIGH, NC (NEWS RELEASE) -- Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) and Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN) announced today that both companies’ Boards of Directors have unanimously approved a definitive merger agreement to combine the two companies in a stock-for-stock transaction.

The combined company, to be called Duke Energy, will be the country’s largest utility, with:

* Approximately $65 billion in enterprise value and $37 billion in market capitalization
* The country’s largest regulated customer base, providing service to approximately 7.1 million electric customers in six regulated service territories -- North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio
* Approximately 57 gigawatts of domestic generating capacity from a diversified mix of coal, nuclear, natural gas, oil and renewable resources
* The largest regulated nuclear fleet in the country.
* $26 Billion Transaction Will Create Nation’s Largest Utility with a Combined Enterprise Value of Approximately $65 Billion
* Diversified Generation Portfolio in Six Regulated Service Territories
* Transaction Expected to be Accretive to Adjusted Diluted Earnings in First Year

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Progress Shareholders will receive 2.6125 shares of DUK for every share of PGN, but the problems will come down the road....and not too far down the road. The dividend WILL be cut within a year and DUK is deeply emeshed in this "green lunacy" to the detriment of both their shreholders and customers.

Here's hoping the PGN shreholders tell the boards of directors to go to blazes.

Duke must not have done there reseach on the energy producing side of Progress Energy. They have a few of their plants in very bad shape and need to put a ton of money in them. On the Nuclear side alone they have two plants in an salt water enviroment, one plant that sis very old and just had a major fire and the news has done nothing to help produce power..As far as the Brunswick Nuclear plant they have miles of piping and conduit underground and all under pavement. These pipes and conduit are rusting thru and causing major problems underground. They have a huge problem with tritium leaks which can get into ground water..all there underground man holes are full of water. They have saltwater piping undergraound and are all rusting thru. Not to long along they had a conduit rust thru and short out a 4 KV line to there main fire pump diesel. They had no Fire water fo days until they found the problem underground....Beware Duke you dont know what you are getting...A water cooled plant in a saltwater enviroment dont take to long to figure this out...